Tags

Recent tweets

Shock horror, I am starting to question the value of my iPhone..... Actually... I am pondering whether the iPhone is the ideal social media tool I thought it was. Don't get me wrong, I love my little iPhone... but... Should I should stop using it to follow blogs and twitter feeds? This sounds crazy. After all, the iPhone is perfect tool for both functions. I can start up Google Reader while I... [More]

I am starting the week in Adelaide having travelle here to teach an XIV course: SSA0AU XIV Technical Training . I really enjoy teaching, particularly when the students are coming from a non-IBM background. It gives me the chance to better learn how IBM's products compare to our competitors, because the experiences and view points come from real end users. It also helps me to reconfirm my... [More]

One of the more common themes I blog about is the demand for Visio Stencils. In this regard I have some more good news. Firstly the VisioCafe site has an updated IBM-Disk stencil set with the following additions: IBM-SystemStorage-Disk.vss - Added EXP5060 Front, Front Open and Rear Views - Added DS8x00 Cabinet Rear Views Secondly, I have started using the collections function on the IBM... [More]

After 3.5 years of reliable service, the 19" LCD monitor on my sons computer died... and would not power back on. Warranty long since expired and replacement LCDs being relatively cheap, I replaced his monitor with a 22" LCD and he happily updated his Facebook status to suit. Except there was a problem.... what to do with the dead monitor? I had three choices: Put it in the... [More]

After seeing some tweets from @SFoskett regarding XIV support for VAAI, I thought I would supply an update with the information that I have to hand. IBM added VAAI support in XIV code level 10.2.4. However a code fix has since been written for a VAAI related issue (I don't have the details), which means that we are delaying the official support till the release of 10.2.4a code (which should... [More]

In my last post I talked about the versions of XIV code and XIV Management GUI needed for QoS. It leads to the question of how to match the Management GUI version to the XIV code version.... which goes with which? Many storage products have management software that is separate from the software that runs inside the box (more commonly known as the firmware ). So for XIV, is there a best... [More]

After a chat with my one of our business partners, I thought I would add some more info about XIV and QoS: You need your XIV GUI to be on version 2.4.4 and you need your XIV to be on code version 10.2.4. If your not on those levels, you will need to upgrade before you can use this feature. The GUI is easy, just get it from here . The XIV code needs to be upgraded by IBM. Talk to your local IBM... [More]

I have been exploring some of the new features added in XIV firmware version 10.2.4. Today I look at QoS (Quality of Service). This new feature allows you to restrict how much IO (in IOs per second or IOPS) or throughput (in megabytes per second or MBps) an individual host can generate. We do this by creating a new construct called a Performance Class . We can create up to four different... [More]

Thanks again to Rob Jackard of the ATS Group for supplying me with his excellent summary of support site updates. Here are some major points to be aware of. Storwize V7000 and SVC users, please upgrade to version 6.1.0.6. DS3000, DS4000 and DS5000 clients be aware of a 825 reboot cycle. Please read this tip very carefully If your installing 8Gbps capable kit, be aware of the fill word setting,... [More]

The demand for Visio stencils is very strong, which says something about how popular Microsoft Visio is. Its good because it means people are documenting their environments. I am being asked for ETAs for stencils that are not yet in the IBM Disk zip file found on Visio Cafe . The most recent update on Jan 17, 2011, added more nSeries stencils as can be seen here or as reproduced below: 17-Jan-11... [More]

Its been a while since my last blog entry... but don't worry (if you were). I have not given up on my blog. I took three weeks off for vacation: to recharge my batteries and reconnect with my family. It was a great break which sadly had to come to an end. I have three rules when I go on leave: No checking work emails (which meant disabling Lotus Notes Traveller on my iPhone). No making work... [More]

I was recently asked to travel to Taiwan to teach a Storwize V7000 class. I have done a fair amount of travel with IBM, but this was my first visit to Taipei. I must say I loved the energy and enthusiasm of the place. While there I taught a new course: Storwize V7000 Implementation (SSE01) For those who are familiar with IT education, IBM Systems and Technology Group (STG) Education comes in 4... [More]

I have noticed something suspicious on the developerWorks forum. Updates are coming from new users where: The users are in places like Zambia or Reunion (which in itself means nothing) The user name is always two words separated by a full stop (which in itself also means nothing) The user always quotes a previous post. This is the only style of post they create. The user always says something... [More]

A final blog entry before Christmas, with a little Christmas present for all our midrange storage users. The IBM System Storage Interoperation Center (SSIC) found here now lists all of IBMs LSI based Midrange and Entry Disk systems. So you can now select VMware vSphere/ESX 4.1... and then find products like the DS4700 and DS4800. As you can see, the DS4700 has 5808 different configuration... [More]

Its been over a week since the Sydney Storage Symposium finished and I now have the feedback results. The symposium itself was a great success and was a fully booked event (a full house!). We ran 48 separate sessions across two and a half days, all of them focused on storage and how IBM provides solutions for this space (including things like Cloud and DR). These included many lab sessions on... [More]

Its been a busy week! We just completed our first IBM System Storage Symposium in Sydney.... and it was a great success. Thanks to everyone who attended and presented. Meanwhile... there are quite a few updates to the IBM Support site, and as usual Rob Jackard from the ATS Group has created a great summary which I will reproduce here. Things of particular note are: If you installed SVC code... [More]

IBM has published Storage Performance Council (SPC) SPC-2 sequential workload benchmark results for the System Storage DS8800. The measured throughput of 9,705.74 SPC-2 MBPS™ (9.7 gigabytes per second) leads all other published SPC-2 results! Its interesting to compare this result with the DS8300 results posted in 2006. What it shows is how the introduction of new technology like Power-6,... [More]

If your not an IBM Business Partner (or IBMer), then this blog post is sadly not for you. I just wanted to mention that IBM Business Partners can access some truly excellent XIV education on PartnerWorld. Check out the link here: http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/tests/edu966.shtml If your planning to do IBM XIV Certification, the courses you can access from the link above are really excellent.... [More]

In late 2008 my manager rang me with some exciting news. I was to go to Tucson Arizona to do launch hardware training on a new product called XIV. I was soon boarding a Qantas 747 for the long flight to the USA. My training buddies were Hardware Specialists from all over the world. Needless to say the XIV blew our minds. It was a total departure to what we were all used to. Whether it was the... [More]

Just a short update to say that Visio Cafe has some new IBM stencils. IBM supply the stencils to Visio Cafe who make them available free of charge to all our customers. You can use these stencils without acknowledgement or payment. Clearly you still need to buy Visio from Microsoft. The latest updates can be found here: http://www.visiocafe.com/ibm.htm They include: . IBM-Common.zip ... [More]

Being a person who walks dogs, visits the gym and uses public transport.... I have plenty of time to listen to podcasts. The main challenge being that while listening to a podcast.... you actually need to LISTEN. On more than one occasion I have zoned out, missed something interesting and suddenly thought... what did he/she just say? One podcast that is a favourite of mine is "Security... [More]

I had a great time yesterday running a one day seminar for IBM Business Partners on the Storwize V7000. Interest was so strong we had to change locations to get a larger room... and then we had to ask for an even larger room! It was a very positive session with lots of great questions. A really like it when I get questions.... it means people are awake, listening, interested and more importantly... [More]

Its been a busy few weeks. I just spent a week in RTP North Carolina, with the STG Education team. We ran through our first "Implementing the Storwize V7000" course in a "Teach the Teacher" format. It was a lot of fun and I met some great fellow IBMers. It gave me a great opportunity to drive the Storwize V7000 GUI and explore all the new possibilities it opens up. First up....... [More]

In a previous blog entry I mentioned a new iPhone and Blackberry app that gives you info on IBM Storage. I actually now have three IBM supplied iPhone apps that you can get through the Apple Store. The dW app is a social networking app that lets you interact with your contacts on the IBM developerWorks website. I didn't realize that IBM effectively had its own Social Networking site..... but... [More]

I have been getting a lof of requests for Storwize V7000 BTU values. You can now get them from here . Whats interesting is we have published two different values: Maximum power consumption and heat output. Measured values while performing a typical workload. This is a good start towards providing more useful values for comparisons. IBM is a member of the Green Storage Initiative which has created... [More]

I got asked this question during the week, so I thought I would share the answer with you. The question was: Can I create a full volume copy of an XIV snapshot? The answer of course was YES... but here is why... . An XIV has two copy concepts: For a particular volume you can create both snapshots.... and you can also create full volume copies. You can actually create as many of each as you... [More]